


Humans and Their Names

by MySoulIsPainted



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 666 Words, Aziraphale-centric (Good Omens), Caring Aziraphale (Good Omens), Comforting Aziraphale (Good Omens), Genderfluid Crowley (Good Omens), Genderqueer Crowley (Good Omens), M/M, Multi, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 12:03:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21270749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MySoulIsPainted/pseuds/MySoulIsPainted
Summary: An unexpected customer to the bookshop brings out Aziraphale's caring nature





	Humans and Their Names

Crowley is contentedly drifting somewhere between dream and thought when Aziraphael slips into bed beside them. They feel Aziraphael begin to gently stroke their long, curly hair, and they slip further towards sleep.

“I heard what you said today… in the shop...” They murmur.

“I meant every word.” The Angel whispers to them.

As he hears Crowley’s breaths deepen and come to the regular rhythm of a peaceful sleep, he smiles to himself and reflects on the day. 

It had seemed like a regular Autumnal Tuesday; it was the sort of day where nothing much would occur, but you would go to bed feeling content. How wrong Aziraphale had been. He had been comfortably doing Not Much when the bell above his door rang as the door swung open. A customer? This simply will not do, he thought. And was quite ready to shift into his usual routine that would gently - but decidedly - ensure the person leaving without so much as a bookmark, when he noticed who the customer was. He recognised them having peered through the shop window a few times over the last week and approached them with curiosity.

“May I assist you in any way, my dear?”

The teenager instantly blushed, opened their mouth as if to speak but, thinking better of it, shut it again. They looked around wildly as if the books themselves would speak for them.

When Aziraphale didn’t fill the silence, they eventually stammered, “I-I’m looking for something, um, specific. You see, um, I’m looking for…” They lowered their gaze before finally mumbling “I’m looking for a book that will help explain what I am.”

“What you are?” Echoed Aziraphale, surprised. As far as he could tell, this person was fully human.

Their eyes never raising from the floor, the human mumbled their way through an explanation as Aziraphale, whose confusion was outweighed only by concern, tried to follow along. His face pinched into a concentrated frown.

“Well, I saw you last week coming out of the shop... With your partner… and your partner had a dress on, you see and - well, I’d seen them before dressed more like a man… but they looked so happy and confident and I’ve been wondering if…if maybe I would...”

At last, Aziraphale understood. Well, not quite understood - he had never understood the importance of gender himself - but he had seen how humanity’s obsession over gender had led to great joy in some, yet such indescribable pain in others. Most importantly, he had seen how humans had treated his Crowley.

“Names!” He blurted out.

The human looked up, confused and yet relieved at this sudden outburst.

“Names.” Aziraphale concluded, more confidently this time. “The thing with humans is they like naming things. Ever since the Almighty let them name the animals, it’s never really stopped. Names can be helpful, I know that, but when someone else gives you a name, a wrong name, it can be confusing.” 

“And it can hurt.” he added, gently, and he watched the pain flash across the human’s eyes.

“People act like names are forever, but they’re not,” He continued. “My dearest beloved once had a different name, but they taught me a long time ago that the most powerful names are the ones you choose for yourself. And sometimes, you don’t need to choose a name at all. You just need to be you. Trust me, that is enough”

Then, for the first time since the bookshop had opened, he recommended a book to the human. In fact, he recommended several books. These books, he knew, would help the human feel less alone in the world and more at home in themselves.

***

Aziraphale sighs. As much as he loves humans, he doesn’t think he’ll ever understand their capacity to hate those who are different. But, he reasons with himself as he reaches over to plant a kiss on Crowley’s shoulder, there is a lot of love in this world, too. That he can say with absolute certainty.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic so please be kind but feel free to leave *constructive* criticism. Hope you enjoyed!


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